Multidimensional Hierarchical Fabric-Based Supercapacitor with Bionic Fiber Microarrays for Smart Wearable Electronic...

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Energy Storage
• Textile Engineering

Background:

• Rapid development of artificial intelligence and smart wearable electronic textiles drives demand for advanced energy storage solutions.
• Existing textile-based supercapacitors (SCs) face limitations due to low-dimensional substrates, hindering performance.
• There is a need for flexible textile-based SCs utilizing multifarious hierarchical substrates for improved energy-storage capabilities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and fabricate a multidimensional hierarchical fabric electrode with a bionic fiber microarray structure.
• To enhance the energy-storage performance of flexible textile-based supercapacitors.
• To demonstrate the potential of these SCs in self-powered wearable electronic applications.

Main Methods:

• A bionic fiber microarray structure was designed for the hierarchical fabric electrode, inspired by the 'grasp effect' of hedgehog spines.
• Fabrication of supercapacitors using the novel hierarchical fabric electrode.
• Electrochemical performance testing, including specific areal capacitance, energy density, cycle stability, and performance under bending.

Main Results:

• The bionic assembled SCs achieved a significantly enhanced specific areal capacitance of 245.5 mF/cm² (at 1 mV/cm²), compared to 41.6 mF/cm² for planar fabric-based SCs.
• A high energy density of 21.82 μWh/cm² (at 0.4 mW/cm²) was recorded.
• The SCs demonstrated excellent cycle stability (83.9% capacitance retention after 10,000 cycles) and stable performance under various bending states.

Conclusions:

• The multidimensional hierarchical fabric electrode with a bionic fiber microarray structure effectively enhances the performance of textile-based supercapacitors.
• This advanced electrode design offers promising prospects for flexible textile-based energy storage systems.
• The developed technology holds potential for integration into smart wearable textile applications, such as self-powered electronic switches.